No more passive waiting
The United States has announced that it will "fuck" with China again
The United States announced that starting from October 14, all China operated ships, China built ships and non-United States built car transport ships entering U.S. ports will be charged additional fees.
The U.S. customs charging system has a subtle design: ships operated by Chinese shipowners are charged according to tonnage, while ships built in China are charged according to the number of containers.
For a Chinese-built cargo ship loaded with 5,000 TEUs, the single port fee is as high as US $6 million, which is equivalent to an extra freight of 1,200 yuan per item. What's more, the United States requires shipping companies to use the Pay.gov system to automatically deduct money, which is equivalent to installing "electronic shackles" on each ship.
This charging model directly impacts the global supply chain. Data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange shows that in the third quarter of 2025, freight rates on the route from China to the West of the United States soared by 42%, but cargo owners found that the actual landing cost dropped by 15%. It turns out that shipping companies passed on the cost to Southeast Asian transit ports.
Six hundred years ago, when the Chongqing fleet was in the West, the countries along the way were free from tariffs; six hundred years later, the United States erected a high-tax wall against Chinese ships.
In the 19th century, Britain imposed a ton tax on North American colonies, which triggered the war of independence; In the 20th century, Japanese automobile exports were subject to "voluntary export restrictions" by the United States. Now it's China's turn to face the same dilemma.
U.S. Customs in Long Beach Port piloted the "intelligent weighing system", which can determine the real type of goods by the frequency of the ship's body vibration.
In August 2025, a Chinese fishing vessel was detained for 36 hours because of the system's detection of abnormal shaking, and it was discovered that all of the fish on board was basha.
In the face of the new rules of the United States, the global shipping giants showed sights.Moscow replaced 23 Chinese-built container ships with the Panama flag, while Dauphine Shipping changed the route from Shanghai-Los Angeles to Shanghai-Mexico City-Houston.
This strategy of "saving the country by curve" led to a 40% longer route, but shipping companies found that the total cost after detours was 12% lower than that of direct flights, because the loading and unloading fees at Mexican ports were 37% lower than those in the United States.
In July 2025, the United States and South Korea signed the Indo-Pacific Shipping Safety Agreement, which stipulates that ships of the three countries can enjoy a 15% discount in each other's ports.
This exclusivity clause is directly aimed at China Shipping Alliance. What is even more hidden is the technological blockade. The U.S. Department of Commerce has included 12 Chinese marine equipment companies in the entity list, resulting in 83% of the world's marine propellers facing the risk of supply cut-off.
But the counterattack of Chinese enterprises is equally sharp. COSCO SHIPPING invested in the construction of a "digital port" in Malaysia, using blockchain technology to achieve paperless customs clearance.
While American freighters are still waiting in line at Long Beach Port for manual inspection, the Chinese fleet has transmitted cargo data in real time through satellite remote sensing. This kind of "overtaking in corners" makes the charging system of U.S. customs useless.
In September 2025, the price of Costco’s domestic cleaner robots jumped by 28 percent, as the Chinese freight ships transporting them cost $1.5 million more per flight.
Ironically, U.S. farmers also failed to survive, shipping 6 million tons of soybeans to China due to delays in shipping, and had to cut prices by 12%.The Chicago Futures Exchange data showed that the soybeans futures price curve has been characterized by "panic selling" by U.S. farmers.
Chinese factories are being forced to upgrade. Midea Group moved its microwave oven production line to Mexico, but found that the assembly efficiency of local workers was 40% lower than that of China.
In vain, they shipped semi-finished products from Qingdao Harbour to the past assembly, resulting in the overall cost increasing by 19%.
Modern shipping has long been no longer a simple transportation of goods. Intelligent containers for long-haul shipping have built-in sensors that monitor the status of goods in real time. When U.S. customs attempt to seize a "suspicious violation" container, the system automatically calls out 2,000 data points.
Even more disruptive is cryptocurrency settlement.In August 2025, the world’s first shipping fee paid in Bitcoin was completed in the port of Rotterdam.Shipowners automatically settled with smart contracts, bypassing the U.S.-led SWIFT system.
This “decentralized settlement” is rewriting the rules of the game, and when the United States is still using the dollar hegemony to “buy money,” blockchain technology has made money flows untraceable.
Standing on the observation deck of Los Angeles Port and watching the ocean-going ship built in China slowly leave, you will think of Zheng He's fleet's seven voyages to the Western Ocean. 600 years ago, China exchanged porcelain for spices.
Six hundred years later, the U.S. tried to curb China with tariff policies, but history was always surprisingly similar, and Marco Polo wrote in The Oriental Census, “Where the Yuan-Dinese merchant ships are, gold and silver are like water”; and today’s Chinese shipping enterprises are using digital capabilities to rebuild maritime order.
As the Chinese fleet crossed the Strait of Malacca, the Beidou system on board was interconnected with Singapore and Malaysia’s satellites in real time; while U.S. cargo ships were in line in the Panama Canal, seven Chinese-built new-generation canal barracks were operating in the Caribbean.
This trend of decline and growth may be the epitome of the change of civilization-true maritime powers never need to rely on fees to maintain hegemony.
The United States has announced that it will "fuck" with China again
The United States announced that starting from October 14, all China operated ships, China built ships and non-United States built car transport ships entering U.S. ports will be charged additional fees.
The U.S. customs charging system has a subtle design: ships operated by Chinese shipowners are charged according to tonnage, while ships built in China are charged according to the number of containers.
For a Chinese-built cargo ship loaded with 5,000 TEUs, the single port fee is as high as US $6 million, which is equivalent to an extra freight of 1,200 yuan per item. What's more, the United States requires shipping companies to use the Pay.gov system to automatically deduct money, which is equivalent to installing "electronic shackles" on each ship.
This charging model directly impacts the global supply chain. Data from the Shanghai Shipping Exchange shows that in the third quarter of 2025, freight rates on the route from China to the West of the United States soared by 42%, but cargo owners found that the actual landing cost dropped by 15%. It turns out that shipping companies passed on the cost to Southeast Asian transit ports.
Six hundred years ago, when the Chongqing fleet was in the West, the countries along the way were free from tariffs; six hundred years later, the United States erected a high-tax wall against Chinese ships.
In the 19th century, Britain imposed a ton tax on North American colonies, which triggered the war of independence; In the 20th century, Japanese automobile exports were subject to "voluntary export restrictions" by the United States. Now it's China's turn to face the same dilemma.
U.S. Customs in Long Beach Port piloted the "intelligent weighing system", which can determine the real type of goods by the frequency of the ship's body vibration.
In August 2025, a Chinese fishing vessel was detained for 36 hours because of the system's detection of abnormal shaking, and it was discovered that all of the fish on board was basha.
In the face of the new rules of the United States, the global shipping giants showed sights.Moscow replaced 23 Chinese-built container ships with the Panama flag, while Dauphine Shipping changed the route from Shanghai-Los Angeles to Shanghai-Mexico City-Houston.
This strategy of "saving the country by curve" led to a 40% longer route, but shipping companies found that the total cost after detours was 12% lower than that of direct flights, because the loading and unloading fees at Mexican ports were 37% lower than those in the United States.
In July 2025, the United States and South Korea signed the Indo-Pacific Shipping Safety Agreement, which stipulates that ships of the three countries can enjoy a 15% discount in each other's ports.
This exclusivity clause is directly aimed at China Shipping Alliance. What is even more hidden is the technological blockade. The U.S. Department of Commerce has included 12 Chinese marine equipment companies in the entity list, resulting in 83% of the world's marine propellers facing the risk of supply cut-off.
But the counterattack of Chinese enterprises is equally sharp. COSCO SHIPPING invested in the construction of a "digital port" in Malaysia, using blockchain technology to achieve paperless customs clearance.
While American freighters are still waiting in line at Long Beach Port for manual inspection, the Chinese fleet has transmitted cargo data in real time through satellite remote sensing. This kind of "overtaking in corners" makes the charging system of U.S. customs useless.
In September 2025, the price of Costco’s domestic cleaner robots jumped by 28 percent, as the Chinese freight ships transporting them cost $1.5 million more per flight.
Ironically, U.S. farmers also failed to survive, shipping 6 million tons of soybeans to China due to delays in shipping, and had to cut prices by 12%.The Chicago Futures Exchange data showed that the soybeans futures price curve has been characterized by "panic selling" by U.S. farmers.
Chinese factories are being forced to upgrade. Midea Group moved its microwave oven production line to Mexico, but found that the assembly efficiency of local workers was 40% lower than that of China.
In vain, they shipped semi-finished products from Qingdao Harbour to the past assembly, resulting in the overall cost increasing by 19%.
Modern shipping has long been no longer a simple transportation of goods. Intelligent containers for long-haul shipping have built-in sensors that monitor the status of goods in real time. When U.S. customs attempt to seize a "suspicious violation" container, the system automatically calls out 2,000 data points.
Even more disruptive is cryptocurrency settlement.In August 2025, the world’s first shipping fee paid in Bitcoin was completed in the port of Rotterdam.Shipowners automatically settled with smart contracts, bypassing the U.S.-led SWIFT system.
This “decentralized settlement” is rewriting the rules of the game, and when the United States is still using the dollar hegemony to “buy money,” blockchain technology has made money flows untraceable.
Standing on the observation deck of Los Angeles Port and watching the ocean-going ship built in China slowly leave, you will think of Zheng He's fleet's seven voyages to the Western Ocean. 600 years ago, China exchanged porcelain for spices.
Six hundred years later, the U.S. tried to curb China with tariff policies, but history was always surprisingly similar, and Marco Polo wrote in The Oriental Census, “Where the Yuan-Dinese merchant ships are, gold and silver are like water”; and today’s Chinese shipping enterprises are using digital capabilities to rebuild maritime order.
As the Chinese fleet crossed the Strait of Malacca, the Beidou system on board was interconnected with Singapore and Malaysia’s satellites in real time; while U.S. cargo ships were in line in the Panama Canal, seven Chinese-built new-generation canal barracks were operating in the Caribbean.
This trend of decline and growth may be the epitome of the change of civilization-true maritime powers never need to rely on fees to maintain hegemony.